Galilee

Galilee is a region in northern Israel, extending from the Dan in the north to Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa in the south, and from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. During the first century AD, it was dotted with 204 small towns and villages. Under Arab rule, Tiberias, Baysan, Acre, Saffuriya, and Kabul became major towns, and, under Crusader rule, it became the Principality of Galilee. The Jewish population grew under Ottoman rule as many Sephardim fled Spain for the Holy Land, and, centuries later, it came under British and then Israeli rule. By the 21st century, Galilee was 47% Jewish, while the remainder were Arabs, mostly Muslim, but also Druze or Christian.